The Toughest Gun in Tombstone

Matt Sloane (George Montgomery) is sent from Texas to Arizona to tame Tombstone where a gang of outlaws deals with cattle and silver. One of them killed his wife.

Acceptable B western which moves at a leisurely pace and has the usual fight fights, shootouts and hard riding. There's some nifty detective work as well as some melodrama concerning Montgomery's son. Nothing too outstanding but it makes for an efficient diversion.

The Toughest Gun in Tombstone is directed by Earl Bellamy and written by Orville H. Hampton. It stars George Montgomery, Jim Davis, Beverly Tyler, Gerald Milton and Don Beddoe. Music is by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Kenneth Peach.

Solid "B" type Oater finds Montgomery as Matt Sloane, an undercover Arizona Ranger sent into Tombstone to rid it of its outlaw elements. He also has a vested personal interest since the man who killed his wife - and who has shot and injured his son - also resides within the outlaw group.

Standard rules apply here, clocking in at just 72 minutes in run time, the requisite fist fights, chases, shoot outs and good versus bad shenanigans fill out the play. There's some nifty cryptic detective work going on, even some stentorian narration suggesting the makers have been watching the noir crime movies of the era. The romantic angle is not over played, with a nice surrogate mother thread ticking along nicely, and the cast and tech crew perform capably within the confines of the low budget production limits.

With the opening broadly telling us about the "infamous" named characters operating in Tombstone, it should be noted this is of course not a history lesson, so don't expect one. While elsewhere after being told that President Chester A. Arthur has "ordered" the end of outlaws, it's a little disappointing that there wasn't more scope to expand upon the birth of The Arizona Rangers. But as it is this is sturdy and enjoyable fare for the genre fans to pass the time away with. 6/10

Having a narrator sounding like so many TV shows of this era and earlier actually detracts, in my opinion, and having so many real-life bad guys as characters also does, in my opinion.

It's a pretty good story otherwise, and George Montgomery was nearly always fun to watch.

Beverly Tyler is very much fun to watch. She was an extremely talented woman, with a reputation as a great singer, although she was not given any opportunities to sing on film -- more Hollywood strangeness.

Harry Lauter gets to play a good guy, and shows he should have had even more chances.

Gerald Milton, playing this version of "Ike Clanton," is someone I've not heard of before but seeing him in this role shows me I've been missing out. What a great performance.

YouTube has a good print, although there is an extra almost 30 minutes tacked on for no good reason.

In this interesting 1958 B-western, George Montgomery is sent to rowdy Tombstone to clean up lawlessness and corruption there. He encounters the likes of Johnny Ringo and Ike Clanton as he proceeds to throw the book (and LEAD ) at the lawless cowpokes. Eventually, good overcomes evil and all is well in the Arizona town..........

Montgomery is fine as the good guy, riding to the rescue. His acting range was limited, but he made up for it with a dogged intensity. Jim Davis was very good as Ringo, making this a fun but undemanding film.

Fans of this era of western film should enjoy this one. It's not Shakespeare, but it is entertaining in a low-budget sorta way !

I know...it's a typical "B", 50's movie, and as such, immune from historical consideration.

This one was actually "narrated"...with names like "Johnny Ringo", Ike Clanton, and "Curly Bill"...real characters that lived in Tombstone.

The opening lines talked about a attempted murder happening on a trail outside the town of Phoenix...near Tombstone. Any Arizona 5 year old then, or now, knows phoenix was a barely existing village, two hard days ride from the thriving city of Tucson, and 4 hard days ride from Phoenix to Tombstone.

These characters lived...some died near Tombstone in 1881... The hero was a captain of the the "Arizona Rangers"...which wasn't formed until 1901.

B movie?...OK, I sure wish they'd leave real historical names alone.

All the gagging pseudo-history aside....I did enjoy George Montgomery.

George Williams....Tombstone Arizona